WESTERN Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge wants the pain of his team's seven-point elimination final loss to Adelaide to hurt, but says his players deserve "a hell of a lot of credit" for rising from 14th in 2014 to the finals this year.
 
Beveridge told reporters after Saturday night's thrilling game at the MCG that he didn't sense that any of his team's 14 finals debutants were overawed by the occasion.
 
Certainly, the Bulldogs' fast start to the game suggested that, as they poured on four of the first five goals to jump to an early lead.
 
Despite the Dogs' dominance of clearances and inside 50s, the Crows led for much of the match, but Beveridge's young team never let them get further than 15 points up.
 
After going into three-quarter-time 11 points down, the Bulldogs looked set to storm over the top of Adelaide when they kicked four of the first five goals of the final term to take an eight-point lead at the 13-minute mark.
 
Asked whether his team could have done more to slow the game down from that point, Beveridge had felt it still had to score to win, so he wasn't overly critical of the fact the Bulldogs conceded the final two goals of the game to lose.
 
The Bulldogs coach conceded his team's 14.18 return, which included a series of missed set shots, had been costly, especially when the Crows converted many of their critical set shots.
 
However, he preferred to focus on the "enormous and enjoyable journey" his players had taken the club on this year.
 
"It's a balance between this hurting and being in our memory banks and maybe helping us next time, and recognising their contributions and what they've done this year," Beveridge said.
 
"The journey that they've taken our football club and our supporters on, they deserve a hell of a lot of credit (for that), but you want it to hurt a little bit and burn.
 
"So I didn't go too hard on too many things because besides that, and maybe just being a bit too adventurous with our defence early and getting too high up the ground, which we normally do pretty well, there really weren't too many other real negatives for us."
 
Beveridge recognised there was "still a fair bit of growth" in the Bulldogs given their youthful list, but stressed that while he hoped they would continue to improve next year the rest of the competition would improve too.
 
However, Beveridge was confident his players would learn plenty from Saturday's high-pressure game, particularly the frantic final moments.
 
"There's just so many big moments in these games, whether it's a hand in there or a handball that just misses a target, or a kick in open space, or taking shots when we should bring teammates into the game, or just (being) adventurous with our defence," Beveridge said.
 
"I just hope that we really learn from it and I believe we will. I don't think any of our players are overawed by the big stage and that's a great sign.
 
"When they come here next time they will have lived it already and that hopefully stands for something.
 
"But we've got a really strong blend of youth and mix of distinguished experience. It's been great all year that meshing of generations, and as time goes on we'll grow and those middle-20s players will mature and hopefully we'll get ourselves into spots to capitalise at the end of the year again."